With 12 minutes remaining in the second half and her basketball team clinging to a precarious lead last night, coach Dana Takahara-Dias reminded her Rainbow Wahine of the bigger picture.

"We actually tried to remember that a 40-minute game is played in four-minute spurts and if we can take care of every four minutes and try to minimize the runs, we'll be in good shape down the home stretch," Takahara-Dias said. "We wanted to make sure we're in check every four minutes, that we're doing the right things and executing well and trying to run on all cylinders and no breakdowns."

The lead briefly shrank, and then Hawai'i strung together a strong second half to snap a four-game losing streak with a 58-48 win over San Francisco at the Stan Sheriff Center.

"It was patience and not turning the ball over," said backup guard Leilani Galdones, who scored 10 points — all in the first half — to lead Hawai'i.

A crowd of 552 saw Hawai'i (2-4) capture its first home game of the season, winning for the first time since the season-opener at UC Riverside on Nov. 17.

Keisha Kanekoa and Breanna Arbuckle added nine points each for the Rainbow Wahine. Ten of Hawai'i's 11 players scored and reserves accounted for 26 points.

"It was very nice to put together two halves and really play both ends of the floor offense and defense," Takahara-Dias said. "And I take a look at the effort of our team and tonight, we were down again but we're able to claw back, get the lead and maintain the lead until the end," .

Rheina Ale scored 18 points and Vania Singleterry added 12 for the Dons (3-5). The two played all 40 minutes for a young squad that has just one senior.

The Rainbow Wahine shut down Ale and Singleterry in the second half, using their post presence to wear down the Dons. Hawai'i outrebounded San Francisco 44-27.

"Their inside presence and their rebounding really made a big difference for them," Dons coach Tanya Haave said. "We weren't rebounding offensively, defensively ... just think we lost our confidence."

Ale's two free throws with 10 minutes left helped the Dons close to 40-35. From there, UH's interior defense of Arbuckle and Katie Wilson gave the Dons few looks. After big first halves, Ale and Singleterry combined for just 10 points in the second.

Wilson's free throws capped a 12-3 run that extended Hawai'i's lead to 52-38 with 4:13 remaining.

"Tonight, it was an indication that Katie played very good minutes offensively and shut them down defensively," Takahara-Dias said. "So it's always a benefit and a plus to have players come off the bench and contribute in big ways."

NOTE: UH now plays in the Hukilau Tournament at Brigham Young-Hawai'i. Hawai'i plays Division II BYU-Hawai'i (1-1) at 4 p.m. today and Brigham Young (3-2) tomorrow at 1 p.m.